Bring the Romance: Jennifer’s Fav Spicy Webtoons
Carrying on the trend of our July episode, Jennifer dives into some of her favorite ~spicy~ romance Webtoons. With some incredible stories and art, this is just another reason to download the app and get reading stat.
Some of Jennifer’s fav spicy Webtoons:
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Bring the Romance: Jennifer’s Fav Spicy Webtoons
Carrying on the trend of our July episode, Jennifer dives into some of her favorite ~spicy~ romance Webtoons. With some incredible stories and art, this is just another reason to download the app and get reading stat.
Some of Jennifer’s fav spicy Webtoons:
Support the Pod
*Some of the links above are affiliate links and we will receive commission from any purchases made through them*
Welcome to another episode of BBE Shorts. My name is Jennifer and I will be your host today. Paige can't come to the phone right now because she literally just landed in Iceland, but don't worry, I am here to keep serving you the bookish content you desire. If you're new to Big Book Energy, welcome. If you are returning, you are also welcome. We are two archivists talking the thing we love most: books. We get together every now and again to chat about books based around a theme and season four's theme is guilty pleasures. In addition to BBE Shorts, we drop full episodes once a month for our amazing Patreon supporters. If you are not yet a Patreon supporter, you can always unlock our full library of content for as little as$5. All right without further ado, let's get into the episode. So, let's talk about spicy Webtoons. Now I like a lot of romance Webtoons. I would guess that maybe about half of the many, many Webtoons I'm subscribed to are romance, but that's not what I mean by spicy. Just like you can have tame and sweet romance books versus smut, you get the same in Webtoons. Although within reason, Webtoons is a platform available to children as young as 13. So don't go thinking there's just full graphic nudity in any of these stories. There isn't, though Webtoon can be rather arbitrary in how it applies its own standards. For example, Kruger and Faust, which is one Webtoon I enjoy a lot that didn't quite make the cut for this episode had a chapter removed because it showed the main character in the shower. Now, when I say it showed her in the shower, it showed her head and shoulders under running water, nothing crazy, kind of just like a shampoo commercial level of nudity. The whole scene was demonstrating that the romantic interest had played a prank on her and dyed her hair pink. So the focus was really on her hair. And yet that chapter got removed for violating Webtoon standards. Contrast this with the story My Dear Coldblooded King, which has numerous scenes of things getting hot and heavy in bathtubs between the protagonist and her romantic interest, which by the way, if you want a spicy Webtoon, that one should definitely be on your list to check out. But this video is called Jennifer's Fav Spicy Webtoons and I really did not like the major romantic turn the story took so it's not one of my favorites, but again, if you are interested in spicy Webtoons, you should definitely check out My Dear Cold-blooded King. Anyway. Is it a coincidence that Kruger and Faust gets censored as a small, independent canvas story? Meaning that it's not sponsored by Webtoon, while My Dear Cold-blooded King being a Webtoon Original can post this content with impunity. Yeah. I don't know. I'll leave that up to you to decide. I know how I feel about it. Another note before we get started, as I began writing up my notes for this episode, I realized that some of my favorite stories that I wanted to talk about really badly in this context, weren't actually all that spicy. Like just very tame spice, like mild, maybe some medium, no Thai hot, you know, but the romance is so good. So that was kind of funny and I had to adjust my list somewhat. Regardless there is some great spice available for your reading pleasure. So let's get into my personal favorites. All right. First up we have a Webtoon that is actually completed. So there won't be any agony over catching up and then having to wait week to week for another episode. I am talking about Freaking Romance by Snailords. Snailords is the artist of this Webtoon. This story follows protagonist Zylith who is vehemently against love. After watching her mother be abused by her father for years, as well as experiencing it herself, she's convinced that love is a corrupted and painful thing. Luckily, she's able to escape from her father's clutches and move into an apartment to pursue her art. Only problem is this apartment seems to have an other worldly and handsome, might I say handsome, visitor who appears at random. Between her other worldly visitor, Zelan, and her best friend. I don't know how to pronounce this, honestly. Verose? And her best friend Verose it's spelled V E rose. I'm just going to say Verose. So yes, her best friend Zylith, isn't going to be able to avoid romance like she thought. So like most of these Webtoons, the art is absolutely beautiful in this story. The story actually takes a really weird turn. It's either season three or season two. I can't quite remember. It takes a real weird turn that I wasn't expecting, but despite that there are some great spicy moments. And I love Zylith as a character, as well as her romantic interests. Reader beware, this is a slow, slow burn because Zylith and Zelan literally can't interact with each other for a while. And Zylith and Verose struggle with Zylith's emotional trauma. I won't say any more to avoid spoiling anything, but I can say the spice was well worth the wait for me. Next, I want to highlight a Canvas story. Again, these are stories that aren't, you know,"sponsored" by Webtoon and therefore aren't Webtoon Originals. It used to be a lot smaller than it is now. Now it has over 300,000 subscriptions. Shockingly that is actually still small compared to some of the Webtoon Originals, but this story is called At Arms Length and it's by Zushi. Like sushi, but with a Z. The story centers around two characters, Michael and Reina, who are both recovering. Michael has taken a year off school despite his parents' disappointment to take care of his mental health after a suicide scare. And Raina has been in the process of moving on and healing from an abusive relationship and self harm. I swear to God, all of the traffic is conspiring against me. I mean, it is after five o'clock. So I guess I did set myself up for that one. Neither is looking for anything serious right now, just focusing on school and regaining some sense of normalcy. The universe, however, or I guess Zushi, has other ideas and before they know it, they have collided, but will they be able to work on their trust issues together? One note of caution for At Arms Length, the updates are really a sporadic on this one. This isn't a story you can count on for a weekly update. In fact, many Canvas creators are unable to do weekly updates because they're not receiving the same kinds of financial support that Originals do. But the reason I included this one on the list is A) we haven't quite gotten there in the story yet, but I think this one has amazing potential for some spice factor. The author has definitely been giving hints that future chapters will be bringing some heat. Also, if you'd like tattooed bad-boy-turned-good male leads, then this will definitely be of interest to you. B) the portrayal of mental health and mental illness is absolutely great. I mean like top-notch, there are trigger or content warnings on some episodes and the author does preface in the prologue for the entire series that you can expect a lot of dark moments in this story, but Michael's recovery from suicidal ideation is done really thoughtfully as is Reina's experience with abusive relationships and self harm. So I really can't wait to see where this one goes. By the way, this reminds me. For many stories on Webtoons that are romances, but not the most spicy- again because of Webtoon guidelines- many artists have their own Patreon where you can unlock 18 plus content. So you can support an artist and a story you love while getting some unedited chapters as well. If that is to your liking. And I am fairly certain thatZushi has a Patreon with this content. All right. Next, we have Let's Play by Mongie. This is a Webtoon heavy- hitter. I mean like it's a huge Webtoon, millions of subscribers and it recently just came back from a horrifically long hiatus. Apparently Mongie and Webtoon were having like some difficulties coming to contractual agreements. In addition to health concerns for the author. But it's back. It's back. So Let's Play follows video game designer, Sam, as she is all set to launch her first ever game and get started in her dream career. However, when popular streamer Marshall bashes her game in a review, her dreams take a nosedive. Worse still turns out her new neighbor is none other than the jerk Marshall himself. How will Sam navigate having her mortal enemy move in next door or her growing feelings for her boss for that matter? This blurb only captures a very small part of Let's Play's story. There's also tons of gaming nerd content, other romantic entanglements, so many sexy romantic interests to choose from, and probably the part that drew me into the story the most, really great depictions of mental health issues such as social anxiety. You can see maybe there's a theme appearing. I like my stories to handle mental health issues well. As someone who suffers from anxiety myself, it can often feel like an external, overwhelming presence that is just hanging around me at all times. And I think Mongie does an excellent job of portraying that in her art. As far as spice goes, this one delivers some great sexy scenes, probably the most out of all of the Webtoons I've chosen and things really have heated up towards the end of last season and the beginning of this current season. I'm not a huge fan of the dialogue we've been given in recent chapters, but I think others will like it. I think that's just my own personal preference. Plus if you're into forbidden office romances at all, then this one is a must. I think there's going to be a variety of different romantic relationships that Sam is entangled in. But yeah, I'm just really interested to see how this one is going to unfold as well, or, you know, play out if you will, right. Get it, play out. Let's Play right? Paige isn't here to make fun of my puns. So I'm just gonna give you puns and maybe you will make fun of me on your own while you're listening. So, the fourth Webtoon on my list is a SubZero by Junepurrr. This is another huge Webtoon. I think most of this list was actually really big Webtoons. I really only gave you one kind of indie Webtoon spicy romance pick. So if you guys want more recommendations I definitely have more, so let me know if you want another, like a part, two of Jennifer's favorite Webtoons or whatever. But SubZero is an Asian inspired fantasy setting where two clans are at war one that has been going on for generations. They each serve two different races of dragons who are natural enemies of each other, but only a handful of dragons remain. The best way I can describe it is that they have human avatars who have long been the rulers of each clan and by communing with the spirit of the crimson or azure dragon, the avatars can transform into dragons themselves. The Azure clan, however, is losing ground to the crimson dragon. Only Princess Clove remains as an avatar of the azure dragon and her country's only hope of survival is forging an alliance through marriage to her enemy, heir to the crimson throne, Prince Kyro. If only that was all Clove had to worry about. Add in scheming generals, devious ministers, potentially poisoned empresses and a shadowy group of assassins threatening her life and you have a good time. This is a classic enemies to lovers story, which is probably one of my favorite romance tropes, and probably why I liked this one so much. And I, I love the fantasy dragon shifting premise. I'll admit Junepurrr is a bit of a tease when it comes to steam. There are some hints and small moments, a chapter here and there with greater spice factor. But because this is enemies to lovers, I think it makes sense that the build up takes a while. All right. I saved my favorite for last and that is Midnight Poppy Land by Instant Miso. This is by far my favorite Webtoon. Period. And I doubt anything is going to dethrone it anytime soon. Midnight Poppy Land follows Poppylan, called Poppy by her friends, as she begins her new career as an editor for a small publishing company. She only recently moved to the big city after living in the country for most of her life. However Narin City is home to a shadowy hotbed of illegal activity dominated by rival clans. And it doesn't take long before Poppy is in the wrong place at the wrong time and runs right into Balthuman enforcer, Tora. Romance ensues, and intrigue, and sass, and I love them, holy shit. Okay. Tora is 100% my number one Webtoon boyfriend. Without a doubt, no one comes anywhere close although obviously I have a whole list of faves. If you love big tough guys with hearts of gold that are only soft for one person, then you are in luck because that is Tora. Poppy is also a great main character. She's just kind of dorky and artsy and innocent, but still tough. And I just love them. They're my favorite Webtoon couple. This is actually one of the Webtoons on my list that doesn't have a lot of spice, but I just couldn't leave this one off. There are definitely some intimate moments for sure and I have no doubt that there are more in store for us as the story unfolds. I'm also almost 100% sure that Instant Miso provides 18 plus content on her Patreon. So if you read the story and love it, but want more steam, you can head on over there. If you're a fan of mafia stories specifically, or honestly, if you're just a fan of romance in general, with some spicy moments, I can't recommend Midnight Poppy Land enough, please. Please someone read it so I can talk to you about it. I have no one to talk to about it. I need someone to talk to about it so I can fan girl constantly every week, please. Just as a side note, as I wrap this episode up, you may have noticed that most of these Webtoons have very heteronormative main relationships. Some have more LGBTQ representation with supporting characters, but the main relationships are heteronormative. I found when I was putting my list together, my favorite LGBTQ romances were mostly. Not spicy. Like the romances are very sweet and not too hot and heavy, but I would be glad to take any suggestions you have for spicy LGBTQ Webtoons. All right thank you for listening to this episode of BBE Shorts. I hope you enjoyed my preliminary list of favorite spicy Webtoons. As I said earlier, if you are interested in hearing more reviews of some of my favorite Webtoons, please do let me know. As always, you can keep up with the podcast on social media and if you'd like to support the podcast, you can visit our bookshop store to get awesome books and support us and independent booksellers at the same time. Or if you'd like access to our bonus, full length episodes and other exclusive content head on over to our Patreon. All of these things will be linked in the show notes. Thanks for listening. And I'll see you here next time. Bye.